Eating Well, Starting With Fish

Scamp with asparagus in a lemon-champagne sauce

We've been kind of half-trying for the past few months at eating healthier, but unfortunately will power has never been a strength of mine.  Like most people, we struggle with eating healthfully yet also economically.  Now that Carter is eating all "big people" food, we also have that factor to contend with (and somehow avoid giving him a diet of only milk and chicken fingers...his preference).  Tomorrow marks one week since we've been on a real healthy eating kick.  It's not necessarily a diet, but more of conscious effort to limit carbs to fruits and vegetables and eat less.  Perhaps the biggest change we've made is eating all "real" food, i.e. nothing processed.  As a lover of cereal and bread, this is tough! I'd like to say after a week, all my cravings are gone, but that's just not true.  
It's also really hard to come up with fun and tasty recipes. To be honest, the majority of our dinners are roasted or grilled chicken with a side or steamed vegetables.  This recipe I'm sharing was actually fun to make and incredibly delicious.  We went to Walt's fish market last weekend and got a filet of scamp (kind of like grouper).

 Heat a large frying pan to medium-high and pour in two tablespoons canola oil. Meanwhile season  the fish with salt and pepper (any white-flesh fish would work for this recipe, also is great with chicken cutlets).

Cook fish for about 4 minutes on each side or until there's a nice crust developing and fish is starting to cook all the way through.  Turn heat down to medium.

Add 1/4 cup of champagne or white wine and the juice of 2 lemons.  Bring to a bubble and then reduce to a simmer.  

Meanwhile, in a 350 degree oven, roast 1 pound of asparagus until just under al dente.  Remove from the oven and cut into thirds.

Add the asparagus, 2 tablespoons butter, and a little more salt and pepper to the pan with the fish and sauce.  Stir gently to incorporate and you're ready to serve.

Made for a tasty dinner.